


Long Drives Down Short Roads

by CosmicDirksen



Category: The Tide, The Tide (US Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Austin Corini - Freeform, Complete but i cant find how to update it to complete on my phone, Cuddles, Friends to Lovers, I just have a lot of love in my heart for Levi and Austin, Laustin Jorini, Levi Jones - Freeform, M/M, Pre-Slash, Slash, The Tide - Freeform, boys realising their feelings basically, leave me alone, lmao what a ship name, mature language, mentions of boners and such, not sorry, sleepy, teeny tiny bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-07-21 17:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7396732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicDirksen/pseuds/CosmicDirksen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi can't get to sleep on the tour bus and his shifting and moving is bothering the other boys, namely Austin.</p><p>Aka the 5 times Levi wakes Austin and the 1 time Austin wakes Levi.</p><p>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>Rated for a little bit of mature language, and some cheeky behaviour.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I obviously do not own The Tide and am in no way connected to them, Prestige  
> Management or any other acts associated with them.  
> This is 100% fiction and just something I've written so I don't feel like I've wasted the entire of summer being a lazy unproductive slug. 
> 
> My writing is pretty pretensious and wordy, I'm not sorry.
> 
> Enjoy! <3

Austin huffed quietly as he heard Levi shift once again in the bunk above him, why wouldn't he just go sleep? He listened as Levi moved around over his head, shaking his duvet and plumping his pillow, loudly. After another five minutes, the noise ceased and Austin smiled contently, rolling back onto his side and curling slightly around his pillow; ready to return to dreamland when THUNK! Austin heard Levi curse quietly and realised the boy had smacked his head on the roof. He smirked slightly, thinking the boy deserved it for keeping him awake, but quickly felt guilty remembering how Levi had been complaining of a headache all day already, and hitting it on the tour bus roof probably hadn't helped.  
The shuffling started again and Austin's sympathy vanished. He yanked open his bunk curtain and threw off his duvet, standing abruptly in the gap between the bunks. He yanked Levi's curtain back and his lips twitched slightly as Levi jerked in shock, narrowly avoiding smacking his head again.  
"Dude! You scared the crap out of me!" Levi gasped, staring at Austin expectantly.  
"You're so noisy, man. Why the fuck aren't you asleep yet? We're up in like 5 hours" Austin hissed back, releasing his grip on the curtain to rub at his eyes.  
"Shit, dude, I'm sorry. I'll go and sit in the front of the bus for a bit" Levi said, moving to get out of his bunk.  
"We are up in 5 hours" Austin repeated, emphasising the fact that Levi needed to sleep just as much as he did.  
"I know, I know, I just...I miss home. I feel all shitty and cold in my bunk and I miss my own bed and pillows and blankets and...." Levi trailed off, sighing again before turning to head out to the front of the bunk. Austin huffed once again and grabbed Levi's wrist, pulling gently and forcing the boy to turn around before enveloping him in a hug, pressing his face into the taller boy's neck. Levi hugged him back tightly and leaned his chin against Austin's head, rubbing his cheek against the short, soft hair. The boys stood in silence for several moments, and Austin could almost feel himself falling asleep once again against the warmth of his band mate.  
"Sleep in my bunk with me" he mumbled quietly, pulling away from Levi slightly to look at him.  
"You aren't going to get to sleep in the front of the bus." he continued, untangling himself from Levi's long arms and taking his hand briefly, tugging him towards the bunk.  
Levi smiled bashfully at Austin and clambered slowly into the bunk, pressing himself against the wall to make sure Austin had plenty of room in the bed. Austin rolled his eyes fondly at the younger boy and got into the bunk himself before tugging Levi toward him once more and putting his arm around his shoulders. Levi rested his head carefully in the centre of Austin's chest and pulled the duvet over them both. Austin bent the arm behind Levi and placed a hand in the boy's hair, massaging his scalp gently.  
"Go to sleep" he mumbled into the chocolate coloured curls before pressing a soft kiss into his hair.  
Levi blushed and pressed a kiss into Austin's t-shirt clad chest in return.  
"G'night" he whispered, smiling quietly and hugging Austin closer to him.  
"Good night, Levi."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just more cuddly sleepy times atm, as this is probably gonna be a 5 times Austin and Levi didnt realise their feelings and the 1 time they do.

It became a routine after that.  
Austin would be awakened at stupid o'clock by Levi shuffling about in his bunk and invite the boy to share his own to ensure they both got at least some sleep. After several nights of this Austin had told Levi not to bother getting into his own bunk and to just go to bed with Austin in the first place.

Drew and Nate had been cracking jokes about the situation at breakfast but Austin knew that they were just as glad as he was that he'd finally found a way to get Levi to sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time on the bus. He knew that Levi had had similar arrangements with both the other boys when he'd been struggling to sleep in the past, and Austin distinctly remembered feeling somewhat offended after one night when Drew and Nate had gone out celebrating with the Vamps boys while himself and Levi had stayed on the bus. The next day before sound check Austin remembered hearing Levi complain to Nate that he'd been unable to sleep and saying they'd abandoned him to sleep alone. Nate had pointed out that Austin had been with him on the bus the entire night, to which Levi had become quiet and mumbled out "yeah, well Austin's different."  
That had struck a chord in Austin, and he'd felt hurt knowing that after being friends for so long, Levi still didn't trust him enough to come to him when he needed someone. While things had apparently changed now, if their current sleeping arrangement was anything to go by, Austin still felt somewhat bitter at the memory.

They were several weeks into the new routine and tonight Levi had fallen asleep almost as soon as they'd gotten into the bunk. He'd spent the day skateboarding around the city meeting fans and exploring, and had then proceeded to drag Drew and the New Hope Club boys out to the back doors of the arena after the show to meet fans before doing God-knows-what for several hours as him and Drew hadn't reappeared in the bus for at least another 2 hours after the show. He had apparently well and truly exhausted himself on his little adventure because once he made it back to the bus he'd barely spoken a word to the other boys as he'd clumsily undressed himself and had whined quietly when his tired fingers hadn't been able to get his charger into the port on his phone after a good seven attempts. Austin had taken pity on him and taken the phone gently from his hands, plugging it in and placing it on his bunk. Once the phone was gone from his hands Levi had immediately clambered into Austin's bunk and Austin had chosen to ignore the overly dramatic wink Nate had shot his way from where he lay on his own bunk, working on some of their new stuff for the album on his laptop.  
Once Austin had gotten back into the bunk, Levi hadn't hesitated to practically wrap himself around him, snuggling his head into Austin's chest. Austin had rolled his eyes fondly and placed a hand absent-mindedly in Levi's hair and returning his attention to his phone. He'd thought Levi was asleep until he gave a quiet murmur.  
"What?" Austin asked, looking down at the thick mop of curls on his chest.  
"Drew's a crap friend" Levi repeated, "Wouldn't even give me a piggyback, what a loser."  
Austin laughed quietly.  
"You'd have given me a piggy back wouldn't you Aus'? You're a great friend. Unlike Drew, dweeb."  
"Yeah, I'd have given you a piggy back, Levi. Don't you worry about it." Austin had replied, trying to keep his laughter out of his voice and making a mental note to ask Drew if they'd been drinking while they were out in the morning. Levi yawned before responding with "you're a good guy, Austin. Good friend." and then seemingly falling abruptly into unconsciousness.  
Austin had then proceeded to attach his headphones to his phone and listen to music while scrolling through Twitter, liking and retweeting fans, answering a few DMs before switching to Instagram and repeating the same routine. He debated whether or not he should post a snapchat, maybe put one of the weird filters on Levi while he was asleep, but ultimately decided against it, not wanting to disturb him by moving about or laughing. 

Several hours later Austin decided he was ready to sleep and cringed inwardly when he saw it was 02:30am and realised as he took his headphones away from his ears that the rest of the bus was now silent with the exception of the quiet, tinny sound of music from Nate's headphones in the bunk across from his. Austin carefully untangled himself from his headphones and put them back into the small net bag hanging on the wall of his bunk. He sat up carefully to plug his phone in then place it in the net with his headphones. Moving slowly, he gently lifted Levi's head from his torso to shift into a more comfortable position before laying his head back on his pillow and resting Levi's head down on his chest. He ran his hand soothingly down Levi's back to make sure he was settled and then was ready to go to sleep when Levi whined and rutted against him.  
Austin froze for a moment before whispering "Sorry, just getting comfy. Go back to sleep."  
Levi huffed softly and nuzzled further into Austin's neck before falling still. Austin tensed and waited for a moment before relaxing his body again, assuming the boy had finally settled. Just before Austin fell asleep, he felt Levi press a soft kiss to the skin of his collarbone and mumble a small "love you, Aus'." against his skin. A small smile tugged at Austin's mouth at the thought that Levi's ridiculously affectionate nature was still there in his sleep and he whispered a quiet "yeah, love you too" into the darkness before finally drifting into unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> changed my mind, this is gonna be more like the 5 times Levi wakes Austin and the 1 time Austin wakes Levi. But with the realisation of feelings mixed in.
> 
> things get a teeny bit heated in this section. brief mention of boners. read at your own discresion etcetera

A few nights later, Austin was woken by Levi shifting against him and this time panting softly. He'd worried for a moment that Levi was having some sort of dream panic attack and had been about to wake him when he felt the hard-on pressed against his leg.  
Austin had frozen once more in a situation far too similar to the time a few nights before but this time, Levi didn't settle but instead bucked against him and gasped.

It wasn't the first time he'd been in close proximity with one of the boys' boners due to the inevitably of morning wood but normally the other boy was still totally asleep and Austin has simply either gotten out of bed or fallen back to sleep, unphased by the natural state of another sleeping guy. He knew the boners weren't caused by him and would go away once the other boy woke up. This situation, however, was entirely foreign to him and Austin wasn't sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

He had three options. Wake up Levi, wait it out, or get out of bed to go to the toilet and just hope Levi had settled by the time he got back.  
Austin pondered this for a moment and upon noticing how Levi seemed to have settled considerably now, just shifting and occasionally whining softly, Austin considered simply ignoring him and going back to sleep, letting this just become something that after tonight he'd hopefully forget and never mention again.

That was until Levi's hips met Austin's thigh again and he bucked roughly against him, one of Levi's hands grabbing a fistful of Austin's t-shirt and Levi blatantly moaning before biting down on the soft flesh of Austin's neck, hard.

Austin shot up and narrowly missed smashing his head into the empty bunk above him before forcefully pushing Levi off of him and practically falling out of the bed and onto the carpeted floor of the bus.  
This, obviously, woke Levi himself who sadly wasn't as lucky and even in his distressed state Austin winced sympathetically as he heard Levi's head hit the roof of the bunk.

Levi hissed in pain before slowly peeling the curtain back and blinking down at his bandmate who was still on the floor, eyes adjusting to the dark.  
"You okay?" he asked questioningly, his voice rough from sleep. Normally, Austin would have found the concern cute, but as Levi obliviously scratched at his stomach as he continued to watch Austin warily, he decided that their sleeping arrangement had gone on long enough and Levi was definitely ready to return to his own bunk now. He was about to voice this when he heard one of the other boys shift in their bunk and realised now probably wasn't the best time for a conversation.  
"Dude?" Levi spoke again, startling Austin from his thoughts.  
"Yeah, I'm cool. Sorry. Just had one of those weird falling dreams." He responded, picking his lie carefully. "I'm just gonna go pee and then get a drink. Go back to sleep, yeah?" He continued. Rising to his feet and heading away from the bunks toward the bathroom.  
"M'kay" Levi replied, apparently satisfied with Austin's response. Austin listened as he closed the bunk curtain and lay back down, waiting until he heard Levi's breathing even out before heading into the bathroom. He flicked on the light and scrunched his eyes as it reached them. Austin looked into the mirror and cringed when he noticed the irritated flesh on his neck from Levi's bite, running a hand over it and hissing slightly in pain as he felt the slight indents Levi's teeth had left. Austin used the toilet quickly and washed his hands before heading into the kitchen area of the bus, hoping to find something in the freezer he could hold against the steadily forming bruise. His scowl deepened when he found the freezer was practically bare with the exception of some dodgy looking chicken fillets and an exploded can of Mountain Dew. Nate was an impatient guy and had developed the habit of leaving cans in the freezer for 10 minutes before drinking them so they were cold, rather than just putting the in the refrigerator with everything else. While it did save fridge room, whenever Nate forgot about the cans and the carbonated drinks eventually exploded from the pressure, he left scraping them out of the freezer to someone else. 

Austin huffed and slammed the fridge shut, not feeling remotely apologetic when he heard shifting coming from the bunks, served them all right to be woken up if they were gonna be douchebags. He moved swiftly into the sitting area and curled up on the sofa styled seats, pulling the thin Pokemon blanket that adorned it over him settling down for a long night, forcefully ignoring the throbbing in his neck and the not-to-different ache in his pyjama bottoms. He was definitely having a word with Levi in the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty poorly written chapter while I get back into writing this, probably gonna edit this later. Hopefully the next chapter will be out a lot sooner than this one was. sorry for the slow update! Enjoy!! X

Austin spent the next day avoiding Levi the best he could. He'd woken up when Drew had come through to the main living area and had quickly accepted his band mate's invitation to go and find a Five Guys nearby to get breakfast. He had then proceeded to spend the day dragging Drew into every shop that caught his eye, even offering to pay for Chipotle for them both.  
While they were eating, Austin lost himself in his thoughts and didn't notice Drew watching him cautiously.  
"Dude," Drew spoke, startling Austin from his thoughts.  
"You gonna tell me what happened last night or just keep avoiding the other half of our band?" The blond asked. Austin cringed inwardly but kept his face neutral.  
"You mean, why wasn't I sleeping in my bunk?" He replied, before taking a sip of his drink as he awaited Drew's response.  
"Yeah, dude. What's up?" Drew asked seriously.  
Austin felt a rush of affection towards the younger boy for being so concerned about him and felt guilty for the fact he was about to lie to his face.  
"Oh. dude, that was like nothing. It was just too damn warm and Levi kept shifting about and kicking off the blanket so I just thought it would be easier for us both if I slept somewhere else." Austin responded easily, hoping his calm demeanour made the lie more believable. It wasn't entirely untrue, after all. He'd just not told the entire story.There was nothing wrong with that, right? 

Drew eyed him suspiciously for a moment and Austin was sure he hadn't gotten away with his lie but then the younger boys face broke into a grin. 

"Oh my god, yeah! Levi is a nuisance when it's warm. He's like a human furnace! Remember the hotel in Birmingham?" Drew spoke quickly, becoming animated as he began his story. Austin nodded for him to continue, glad for the change of subject. If only talking to Levi later would be that easy. 

 

As it happened, Austin didn't see Levi for the rest of the day. Once they got back to the hotel the bus had stopped at in the morning, Austin got his room key from Davey and was told Levi had gone Pokèmon hunting with the New Hope Club boys for one of their Club Cams.  
Himself and Drew had spent the majority of the day out in the city so Austin was happy to avoid confronting the bassist and go up to his room to shower and relax. 

Austin showered quickly and changed into some night clothes. More than happy to take a nap for a few hours. He felt like he'd barely been asleep for five minutes when he was awoken by his phone's ringtone blaring out.  
Austin answered the call without looking at the ID and held it to his ear.  
"Austin, bro!" came the excited voice from the other end of the line.  
"Levi" Austin replied, mocking his friend's tone of voice.  
"Guess who has now officially caught every Pokémon that's tattooed on his body?!"  
"Hmm, I dunno." Austin stifled a yawn as he rolled over on the bed. "Blake? He's pretty into Pokémon Go apparently. Not sure he has any tattoos though." Austin jested, smiling to himself when he heard Levi huff on the other end of the line

"Yeah, whatever. You're just jealous because all you have are Rattattas." Levi teased back. "Anyway, I'll see you later, bro. I've gotta help Ben and Reece find Glake, they said they were gonna go grab some food like an hour and a half ago and we still haven't heard from them."  
"Glake?" Austin asked, rubbing his hand over his face.  
"George and Blake, duh. Later, Aus'!" Levi responded cheerfully before ending the call. 

Later. Austin groaned aloud at the thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're nearing the end now! Enjoy! <3

Austin wasn't generally one for procrastination (Nate was definitely the "procrastinator" of the band) and yet, he found himself letting every opportunity he had to mention the incident in the bunks slip by, and before he knew it, the hotel break had passed and they were back on the bus, travelling to the next venue. The bruise on his neck had darkened considerably, but they boys had yet to mention it, which he was incredibly thankful for.   
Austin was sat in the living room area of the bus with Nate at the opposite end of the couch-styled seat that faced the television (used mostly for playstation games) and Drew was perched at the table in the kitchen area, just in the corner of Austin's vision. Austin was sat sideways on the seats, his back against the cupboard next to them and one of his feet just barely touching Nate's leg. Nate, who was absorbed fully in his game of Portal, didn't seem to mind.  
Movement in the corner of Autin's eye caught his attention and he resisted the urge to turn and grin as Levi entered the room. Despite the awkward tension between them, (that Levi was entirely oblivious to) Austin felt a sudden rush of happiness as he saw Levi. Weird. 

Austin decided he'd dwell on it later and instead focused his attention on ignoring Levi as he stopped directly in front of him, choosing to instead continue answering fans on twitter. 

"Dude." Levi spoke, raising his leg slightly off the floor to knock Austin's thigh with his knee.   
"Levi." Austin responded, looking up and raising an eyebrow at the younger boy, trying to keep the grin off of his face when he saw the offended pout on his face.   
"Austin!" Levi said, sounding more put out than before and knocking the other boy again.   
"Yes, Levi?" the singer replied, lips twitching slightly with the effort of not grinning at the other boy's stubborn behaviour.   
"You're like totally in my seat." he spoke, nudging the older boy once more.  
"That's really upsetting, man. I hope you get your seat back one day." Austin replied, mocking sympathy.   
"Aus-tin!" Levi whined, seperating the two syllables. Austin looked back down at his phone, feigning ignorance.  
"Fine." Levi spoke suddenly, and Austin huffed in displeasure as Levi collapsed on top of him, Squirming in his lap for a moment before settling, practically lay on top of his band mate.   
Nate looked over as he ended up with one Levi's feet in his lap and looked across the room to Drew, raising his eyebrow. Drew simply shrugged in response.

"WiFI is the strongest here." Levi said, noticing the exchange between the two bandmates.   
"Hmm? Never noticed." Drew replied, acting oblivious. 

Levi huffed then the room fell silent, with the exception of the sound of Nate's game. Austin shifted slightly before settling beneath Levi and wrapping his arms loosely around him so he could still use his phone with both hands. A Twitter notification from Drew came through and Austin clicked the link to see a picture of himself, Levi and Nate in their current position. The caption read "they're banding without me" followed by several sad faces.   
Austin grinned and opened up a reply, turning his phone to snap a quick picture of Drew.   
"@TheTideDrew dude you're sat like 4 feet away from us" he captioned it before sending it out onto his account. 

Nate paused his game to check his phone and smirked at the tweets before glancing over at Austin curiously.   
"Austin, have you got a hickey?" he asked, glancing between the photo on his phone and the boy sat across from him. 

"What?" Levi asked, sitting up and looking at his band mate. Austin felt a flush begin to rise on his cheeks and went to respond but Drew beat him to it.  
"Austin Corini, you little devil! When have you had time to bring someone back with us?" Drew teased, grinning wickedly him. 

Austin brought his hand up and rubbed his neck, willing away his blush.   
"Like never!" He protested, "It's probably just a random bruise. You know me, skin like a peach." He laughed nervously, moving slightly to shift Levi off of himself and stand up. He froze as Levi gently pulled his hand away from his neck and studied the bruise intently, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Austin flushed again but couldn't take is eyes away from the younger boy's face. His voice was soft;  
"Nah, that's definitely a hickey," he almost whispered, and Austin shivered as he softly ran a finger round the mark. "You can see the teeth marks." Levi continued, before pressing his finger down softly on the bruise. Austin inhaled sharply and screwed his eyes shut, but Levi didn't move his hand, instead allowing his fingers to return to exploring the perimeter of the bite. Austin had never been so simultaneously aroused and horrified in his life, and the feeling only intensified when he blinked his eyes back open and found Levi's gaze set intently on his face, watching the singer's reaction closely with the black of his pupils engulfing the blue irises. Their gaze met and Austin felt light a deer caught in the headlights as they stared at each other while Levi rubbed small circles around the bite he'd unknowingly given his bandmate and current bunkmate. Austin wondered if Levi could have possibly recognised his own teeth marks and felt himself stiffen slightly at the thought.

Suddenly, Nate coughed loudly and the spell was broken. Austin shoved Levi away from him and scrambled to his feet, cringing internally at the confused and hurt look on Levi's face and the knowing look on Drew's. He stood in the centre of the room awkwardly for a moment before his bandmates' stares became unbearable. 

"Stop sleeping in my bunk!" He rushed out before spinning on his feet and hurrying out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. 

Well fuck.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, back to school has really worn me down and I totally forgot about this fic but I'm determined to finish it before December so I can post some new stuff! Don't worry, there's still the plus one to come! Enjoy!

Austin stayed in his bunk after that. Curtain pulled tightly closed and his body curled up tightly, facing the wall. Gradually, the other boys came to bed themselves. Nate first, who paused outside Austin's bunk when he entered the room and whispered his bandmate's name and hovered behind the curtain, before sighing and moving to change and get into his own bunk when he realised he wasn't going to get a response from the older member. Drew and Levi came in together an hour or so later, and Austin felt a rush of jealousy and betrayal that Levi had so willingly switched who he shared a bunk with, but then Levi had mumbled something about going to get into the shower and bid Drew a goodnight, brushing the blond guitarist off when he offered to wait up for him. Austin listened intently as they parted ways and Drew got into bed, waiting until the shower started to let out a slow shuddering breath. He brought his hands to his face and rubbed harshly at his eyes, the delicate skin on his wrists chafing slightly against the beginnings of stubble on his chin. His phone had died about half an hour ago and Austin was strictly against using it while it was charging, out of fear of ruining the battery like he had in his previous mobile. This meant he was now alone with his thoughts which he'd been trying desperately to ignore until now. He felt incredibly embarrassed and guilty about his outburst earlier, and hearing the dejected tone of Levi's voice just then had only served to amplify his guilt. Yet, he was also confused. Why had he gotten so flustered by Levi touching his neck? Sure, it was an intimate place, but if there was anything you got used to while touring, it was the lack of personal space. All of the boys had definitely touched him there before, and Levi had snuggled into it only a few nights prior, and yet, it suddenly felt incredibly intimate and personal. Try as he might, he couldn't deny the sudden interest his lower regions had taken when Levi had pressed at his bruise. While Austin had jokingly made both remarks and moves on other guys in the past, he'd always considered himself to be strictly heterosexual. He tried to reason with himself that it has simply been because of the sexual stigma associated with a hickey, but the more he thought about the past few weeks, the more suddenly he became aware of the fact he was attracted to Levi. Unsurprisingly, while it did answer a few questions about his behaviour, Austin felt in no way relieved by the realisation. Austin was in no way homophobic, but the thought of himself being intimate with another guy made him uneasy. His cock, however, begged to differ and he felt himself harden slightly when he thought about the fact Levi was naked in the shower just a few metres away from him.  
Austin huffed and rolled over, deliberately focusing instead on the steady sound of traffic passing by outside the bus.  
He'd speak to Levi in the morning and apologise, he decided, and settled into his duvet properly to finally sleep. He lasted all of 60 seconds before huffing and throwing his duvet off of himself, pausing hesitantly before gently opening the curtain of his bunk and easing himself off the edge of the bed. He crept carefully through the narrow gap between the beds and slipped through the door separating the sleeping area from the rest of the bus, pulling it shut behind him. He stood outside the bathroom door for a moment and listened to the shower running before he carried on into the kitchen/living room area and seated himself at the table. He drummed his fingers against the table subconsciously while thinking about what he would say to the bassist; Sorry for being a total freak and humiliating you in front of the rest of the band, p.s. thinking about you makes my dick hard? Maybe not. 

The shower stopped and Austin sat up, bracing himself for the inevitable awkward conversation that was about to happen. Steam poured from the small bathroom as Levi stepped out. He was clad in a too-big t-shirt and boxers, with his wet hair clinging to his face. He made for the bunks and Austin found his voice.  
"Levi."  
His voice sounded stronger than he felt, and in any other circumstance he would have laughed at the way Levi jumped from shock upon hearing him. He stopped but didn't turn around, and Austin stood to approach him cautiously. 

"Look, dude, I'm sorry about before." Austin began, stopping once he was close enough to the younger that he could reach out and place his hand on his shoulder. Levi tensed for a moment and took a breath before shrugging of Austin's hand and stepping further away from him. He turned slightly toward Austin to glance at his face before looking down.  
"It's fine, I get it. It's weird that I can't sleep without someone there and I should find someone that actually wants to-" he paused briefly, choosing his words carefully, "- to have me all up in their space every night instead of forcing it on you." 

Austin suddenly felt all of his confidence drain from him again and the cold feeling he'd felt earlier knowing he'd hurt Levi increased by a tenth-fold. 

"Levi, it's not-" He tried, desperate to let his friend know that that was the opposite reason he'd asked him to stop sleeping in his bunk.

"Don't, man." Levi spoke, and the hurt was gone from his voice, replaced by a cold, apathetic tone. "It doesn't matter."

Levi turned away from him again and moved forward, heading through the open door to the separate compartment of the bus and closing it behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this has literally taken SO long but i honestly didnt think i was gonna finish this fic as im no longer a fan of this band, but reading through some messages has inspired me to finish this so whilst people have probably given up on this fic ever being finished. Here is an ending. Thanks for all the love <3

After the failed attempt of a conversation, Levi avoided Austin like the plague. He used any excuse he could to avoid being alone with Austin and it made the singer's heart ache. He felt himself getting continually colder and snappier with the rest of the crew, and to top it all off he just couldn't sleep. The irony that he'd grown so dependent on he and Levi's shared sleeping arrangement would have been laughable if it weren't for the fact that exhaustion was just making things so much worse. 

 

After a week of this, Austin found himself once again lay unable to sleep in his bunk, jealous of the sleeping sounds of his blissfully unaware bandmates. The bunk above him was empty, as his jealousy had been confirmed and Levi had since started sleeping in Drew's bunk once again. He felt hurt by the fact Nate and Drew had so quickly sided with Levi, despite knowing it was him in the wrong.

 

He shifted in his bunk once more before giving up entirely and pushing the curtain back and heaving himself out of bed. He headed to the front of the bus and unlocked the small door before stepping outside. They'd arrived in the next city an hour or so earlier, and hadn't booked any hotel rooms until the following morning and were instead camped out in the relatively empty car park. Austin seated himself on a kurb not far from the bus and willed himself not to cry as he stared blankly up at the sky. He didn't notice he had in fact began to well up until the stars started to blur and he rubbed at his eyes before hanging his head dejectedly.

He tensed as he heard the tour bus door swing open behind him and prayed it was just the driver stepping out for a cigarette. Austin listened to the gravel crunch under the feet of the person headed towards him and he shivered slightly as he felt them pause barely an inch away from him. He hadn'r noticed how cold it was. 

"You'll catch your death out here, man."The figure stated. Austin looked up into Levi's face and couldn't help but notice the way the street lights caught his face, casting shadows down his cheekbones and under his jaw, emphasising the younger boy's features as he looked out towards the street beyond them.

 

"I didn't mean to wake you."He responded quietly, cringing to himself as his voice caught in his throat.

 

He watched Levi bite at his lip before he dropped down to crouch in front of him. The bassist looked pained as he took in the clear hurt on Austin's face and hesitated slightly before opening his arms and asking:"Can I-"

 

He was cut of by Austin launching himself at him and wrapping his arms around him tightly.

"I'm so sorry"blurted the older boy "I shouldn't have shouted at you in front of the other guys when you hadn't even done anything wrong. I was just embarrassed and confused and fuck, you make me feel so nervous and calm at the same time and I don't know what any of it means and I shouldn't have taken it all out on you and I'm so sorry."

 

Levi held his bandmate against him and rubbed his back softly. 

"It's not your fault, Aus'. I remembered what happened and I felt so embarrassed and then you shouted at me and I thought I'd messed everything up so I was too scared to give you a chance to actually talk to me. I should've apologized rather than acting oblivious and I'm sorry I've upset you. 

 

Austin shook his head firmly as he spoke.  
"This isn't your fault, dude."

He pulled away from the curly-haired boy to look him in the face.  
'Can we put this behind us? He asked. Levi hugged Austin close to him again for a moment before returning his gaze. 

"Of course, man. Lets go back inside, yeah?"  
Austin nodded and Levi helped him to his feet. The boys headed back into the bus and toward the bunks. Levi stopped and waited as Austin clambered back into his bunk before making a move toward his own bed above. 

"Levi, wait." Austin called. Levi paused before moving back to look at Austin through the gap in his curtain. The older boy reached out and gently gripped his arm. 

"Would you mind- uh..." Austin trailed off, bashfully averting his eyes from his bandmate. 

Levi beamed at him before ducking down and crawling alongside him in the bunk, careful to avoid kicking the other boy before settling in his favoured postion of one leg and arm over the other boy with his face buried in his neck. He paused for a moment before pressing a quick kiss to the almost entirely healed patch on Austin's neck.

"I've missed you." He whispered into the singer's skin. Austin raised his head slightly to look down at Levi's face before tilting his bandmate's chin with his hand and pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"I've missed you too."

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos/comments are appreciated.
> 
> You can find me on instagram @hmubrad
> 
> Have a fab day ✌


End file.
